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S&P Global Ratings argues financial markets overprice ECB rate hikes, forecasting only two quarter-point increases by March. Concurrent Irish economic data shows manufacturing output at a five-year high despite rising costs, while property markets see moderated house price growth and a decline in buy-to-let mortgages.
A senior S&P Global Ratings economist has said financial markets have got it wrong by pricing in four more quarter-of-a-percentage point rate hikes by the European Central Bank over the next 12 months.
As Joe Brennan reports , speaking at an event in Dublin on Wednesday, Sylvain Broyer, S&P’s chief economist for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said the world’s largest debt ratings agency sees the ECB increasing its main rates by a quarter of a point – or 50 basis points – in December and possibly again in March. One of Europe’s most valuable companies, German software giant SAP, consolidated its Irish entities earlier this year, while its main Dublin-based subsidiary paid another €157 million dividend to its European parent in 2025, newly filed accounts reveal.
Ian Curran reports. Ian also has details of Irish manufacturing output , which rose in September at its fastest pace in almost five years, according to AIB. Still, factory managers also reported the “steepest increase” in average costs since June, as fuel and transport prices continued to rise sharply.
In Ask The Lawyer , Joanne Hunt seeks to answer a reader’s question on what the capital acquisitions tax ramifications will be for a house sold for less than had been expected. House price growth moderated in the third quarter as geopolitical uncertainty and higher interest rates weighed on buyers, the State’s largest estate agent said. Sherry Fitzgerald said the value of second-hand homes rose by 1.1 per cent between July and September and by 4.4 per cent annually.
Eoin Burke-Kennedy reports. Staying with property, Cantillon looks at what appears to be a terminal decline in the buy-to-let mortgage market , while also assessing the state of the Government’s green targets. The big AI companies have managed to create the idea that its so-called agents have acted unexpectedly when they have hacked into other companies. As Emmet Ryan points out though, the agents have acted within the parameters their human controllers have set.
That emphasises the need to maintain human responsibility for such AI programmes. Ireland’s consumer watchdog has joined forces with its counterparts across Europe as part of a co-ordinated action against the companies behind games including Candy Crush, Minecraft and Clash of Clans over potential breaches of consumer protection law. Conor Pope reports.
A fall in the number of North American holidaymakers visiting the Republic in August highlights the need to extend tax cuts to bolster Irish tourism’s competitiveness, says leading industry body ITIC. Barry O’Halloran has the story. In Innovation, Olive Keogh meets the founders of a company aiming to take away the pain of needles when getting injections, while in Technology we hear from the boss of one of the most important companies in the world - ASML .
In Tech Tools, Ciara O’Brien reviews the Litter Robot 4. If you’d like to read more about the issues that affect your finances try signing up to On the Money , the weekly newsletter from our personal finance team, which will be issued every Friday to Irish Times subscribers.
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